Meet the Model-Turned-Actress Whose Love for Anime Landed Her a Saint Laurent Campaign

Grace Hartzel has been very busy. Between countless catwalk struts and magazine shoots, the model landed a Salvatore Ferragamo fragrance contract, a cover of i-D magazine, and multiple Saint Laurent campaigns (she now calls the label’s team her “family”) — all before reaching the legal drinking age in the United States.

In the years since she was scouted in 2011 by industry legends Jeff and Mary Clarke (they also discovered Karlie Kloss and Ashton Kutcher), the Zionsville, Indiana–raised 20-year-old has skyrocketed to fame. During her first season she didn’t just get her feet wet — she dove in full force, swapping Midwest cornfields for the powerhouse runways of Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel.

With her never-ending legs, wide-set baby blues, and delicate, doll-like face, it seems that Grace was destined for sartorial fame all along. She even admits to a childhood obsession with playing dress-up. “When it was ’70s day or nerd day at school, I went full out,” Grace reveals. But modeling actually wasn’t the original plan for the American beauty. “I was set on being an actress, and more into musicals and plays,” she shares. “I would memorize scripts and go to auditions, but modeling just took off faster.” Before she knew it, Grace was cutting her own bangs with a pair of scissors from the local CVS in preparation for a casting at Saint Laurent. And the rest of her modeling fairy tale is history.

Nevertheless, Grace recently had the chance to prove her acting chops, starring in a short film for Salvatore Ferragamo’s Signorina Misteriosa fragrance directed by Sebastien Grousset in Budapest, Hungary. She recalls working endless days, from 6 in the morning till after midnight. Yet Grace is nothing but grateful for the opportunity. “This was a big decision for Ferragamo,” she says. “I wanted to make sure they got everything they needed from me.”

Grace’s professionalism and her ability to transition seamlessly from Salvatore Ferragamo’s luxe, sophisticated inspiration to Hedi Slimane’s grunge girl to Calvin Klein’s mod woman have helped her stand out from the model pack. Not to mention her killer personal style, which ranges from anime schoolgirl to all-out gothic, complete with vampire teeth that she is cheeky enough to wear out at night. “In order to have longevity in the industry, you need to have personality,” she states.

And just like Abbey Lee and Anja Rubik, whom she looks up to, Grace plans to continue to explore other passions outside of modeling, spending ample free time mixing music on GarageBand and playing guitar with her boyfriend, Marlon Magnée, the keyboardist of the French band La Femme (the pair met at a Saint Laurent dinner). With the dream rocker boyfriend and an even dreamier fashion career, Grace is determined to keep the bar raised high. “I would love to work with Tim Burton,” she notes. Someone please alert Mr. Burton that his new muse is waiting.